Police launch investigation after Picasso disappears en route to exhibition
A painting by Pablo Picasso has disappeared in Spain while en route to an exhibition.
‘Still Life with Guitar’ was being taken from Madrid to Granada, where it was due to be displayed at a new exhibition held at the CajaGranada foundation.
The new exhibition opened its doors last week on October 9th, and the mini painting, which is only 12.7cm by 9.8cm in size, was set to be part of the items on show.
The painting, which a private collector owns, was due to arrive on October 3rd, along with various other artworks that were set to be shown at the CajaGranada from Madrid.
On October 3rd, the van arrived, and then, the unpacking of the items was carried out on October 6th. When this task was concluded, it became evident that the Picasso, worth €600,000, was missing. The items had been under video surveillance throughout the weekend.
The foundation said in a statement: “Once the unpacking had been done, by the CajaGranada foundation’s own staff, the works were moved to different parts of the exhibition room.”
They continued, “Mid-morning that day, the exhibition’s curator and the foundation’s head of exhibitions noticed that one work was missing. The piece is a small gouache by Pablo Picasso, called ‘Still Life with Guitar’.”
The foundation also confirmed that they have reported the theft to the Policía Nacional, sharing, “We have also put ourselves at the disposal of those investigating, and we have complete faith that the case will be properly resolved.”
Various Picassos have been stolen over the years, including his famous 1938 piece, ‘Portrait of Dora Maar’, which was recovered in 2019 by Dutch police. The artwork, worth $28 million was stolen from a Saudi Arabian sheikh on a yacht more than 20 years prior.
The investigation remains ongoing.
